Sixers News: Greg Monroe Signing Not Due to Joel Embiid’s Health?

Joel Embiid injury 76ers roster starting lineup

Getty Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid

When the news broke that the Philadelphia 76ers were set to sign center Greg Monroe, there was surely some concern over what it meant for the health of Joel Embiid. Assuming Embiid returns on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, he will have missed 12 of the team’s 20 games since the All-Star Break.

ESPN’s Jordan Schultz was the first to report the news of Monroe’s signing and cited that the Sixers will release Justin Patton in the process. Fortunately, it appears there’s no cause for concern over Embiid’s health, and the move was not made with that in mind, as Keith Pompey of the Philly Inquirer reported.

It’s easy to understand why fans have concern over Embiid missing time, as the start of his career was delayed due to various injuries. But this doesn’t appear to be anything serious that will cause him to miss playoff games.


Joel Embiid’s Injury Status

Embiid was slated to miss three games and return to the lineup on Thursday night when the Sixers face the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s been dealing with a minor knee injury which came up after the break, but the most recent stretch also has to do with load management, as Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia revealed.

Assuming Embiid returns against the Bucks, he’ll wrap up the regular season by building off a superb first 62 games played. The 25-year-old center has posted career marks, including 27.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game. He’s also logged 33.7 minutes per game, up from 30.3 last year and 25.4 the season before.


Sixers’ NBA Playoff Outlook

Realistically, there’s no major rush to get Embiid back on the court at this point. Obviously, the most important thing is for him to be 100 percent when the NBA playoffs get underway. But even beyond that, the Sixers have a very good idea as to how their playoff seeding will look at this point.

Philly currently holds a 49-28 record and a 3.5-game edge on both the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. They’re also 5.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors with just five games remaining in the regular season. The Sixers won’t move up in the standings and it’s highly unlikely that they lose enough ground to fall from the No. 3 seed.

As far as who they could face in the first round, that remains a hot-button topic. If the playoffs began today, the Sixers would face the Detroit Pistons, who own the No. 6 seed. The Brooklyn Nets (0.5 games back), Miami Heat (1.0 back) and Orlando Magic (1.5 back) are all within striking distance.

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